Best-selling atheist author Richard Dawkins has once again been branded “racist” after he tweeted that the sound of cathedral bells is much more pleasant than the “aggressive-sounding Muslim Allahu Akbar.” More.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t heard much from or about Dawkins lately; well, he has certainly fixed that.

Francis adds, “Richard gives praise to the Lord (stop laughing, Denyse).” Okay, not laughing. He notes that Dawkins also wants more secular chaplains,

Humanists UK has been advertising – including in the Observer – to raise funds to support pastoral workers and train them, because it says there is a disproportionate number of religious chaplains in the NHS, given how many people in the UK do not have religious beliefs. The latest Social Attitudes Survey said 53% of Britons have no religion. More.

That’s a reasonable request, to be sure; people ought to go out on the note of what they really believe.

Of course, if what Britons really believe is nothing in particular, one doesn’t envy the secular chaplain’s job.

One wonders what the chaplain trained for such a venue will do when confronted by this clip, which Francis kindly sends us:

See also: Mass slaughter: Can well-intentioned humanism replace values thought to be rooted in reality? What do you think? Traditionally, people have believed that God or the gods opposed mass slaughters like that of Stalin or Pol Pot. They were considered to be against the very order of things. If all we have to go on, to oppose them, is “incisive” criticism, “”direct and unapologetic,” why should we assume that our values are any better than theirs?

Post navigation

I find Richard Dawkins to be annoying. Why can’t he just sit back, take it easy and enjoy his retirement? (He is retired, isn’t he?) I mean if Dawkins has the right to “not be annoyed,” don’t I? The point is if one person has the right not to be annoyed or offended, it must apply universally to everyone. After all, in a democratic society rights must equal– right?

On the other hand, maybe Dawkins and secularists who think like him ought to go back to old fashioned tolerance, where you tolerate people with whom you disagree.